


A Halloween Tale

by WayWardWonderer



Category: Ghostbusters (Movies 1984-1989), The Real Ghostbusters
Genre: Confrontation, Gen, Halloween, Monster - Freeform, Werewolf, creature - Freeform, curse, prank, spell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 18:44:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12238572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WayWardWonderer/pseuds/WayWardWonderer
Summary: A story just for Halloween! The Ghostbusters get a call that revolves around a creature that is neither human or ghost, but a werewolf! When the wolf jumps the Ghostbusters on Halloween night things take an unexpected and unusual turn for our intrepid heroes.





	A Halloween Tale

Cold and dark was the night of Halloween when the Ghostbusters had received a call regarding a large ghostly hound patrolling the Bronx and frightening innocent New Yorkers in the process. On that chilly October night the four Ghostbusters attempted to corner the ethereal canine in the depths of a dark alley only to discover that their target was in fact a massive ghostly wolf.

A bright full moon shone over the city and bathed the sleeping buildings in a beam of pale moonlight.

"What do you make of it Ray?" Dr. Egon Spengler asked as he aimed his PKE meter at the snarling beast.

"According to these readings the creature is alive, not a ghost." Dr. Raymond "Ray" Stantz had turned off his own PKE meter, clipped it to his belt and unsheathed his thrower. "We could be dealing with a genuine lycanthrope! Never thought we'd have the chance to expand our library on cryptozoology!"

"A... what?" Dr. Peter Venkman asked as he too aimed his thrower at the large wolf like creature.

"He means a werewolf." Winston Zeddemore answered without fail. "Except this one looks more wolf than man."

"Yeah, pretty sure I've already seen a werewolf on the drive over. He was sporting a bright orange bag filled with candy and he wasn't alone! Frankenstein, the mummy, Dracula, six zombies..."

"NOT trick-or-treaters..." Winston scolded in an annoyed tone.

"Not to mention it's not Frankenstein," Ray interjected. "it's Frankenstein's monster."

"Ray?" Peter addressed his know-it-all colleague. "Shut up."

"Gentlemen," Egon urged sternly. "we need to focus. Whatever this creature is we have it cornered and we need to deal with it."

The trapped beast flashed its giant glistening fangs at the four men before slowly rearing back onto his its hind legs and stood at a towering height over the intrepid Ghostbusters. Long dark fur ran across its body and a long wisping tail protruding from its lower back.

The creature's upper body was more like a human's as it had long arms that ended in humanoid hands; four fingers and one thumb, but each finger tip was a pointed claw. Its broad chest was well defined and muscular. The face of the creature was still very canine, a long snout with a black nose and two rows of razor sharp teeth. It had its pointed triangular ears back in a vicious pose and its golden eyes glowed in the dim light of the city's unnatural lighting.

Taking one step forward the creature revealed its body to donned beneath tattered fabric of a torn t-shirt hanging from its arms and shoulders as well as a torn pair of blue jeans hanging from its strong legs.

Peter gave Winston an unamused glance. "You were saying?" Pointing to the creature Peter made a less than subtle observation. "Last time I checked only people wear clothes."

Ray was unexpectedly excited. "It IS a werewolf! C'mon guys, let's get it!"

"Ray?" Egon took a step back from the beast and looked over his shoulder to ensure their retreat hadn't been cut off. "If it is a living, breathing creature we cannot trap it with our current equipment. How do we capture it?"

"We-" Ray's enthusiasm melted into cluelessness. "I... I don't know."

The werewolf howled loudly and leapt toward the Ghostbusters with its fangs bared and its powerful claws slashing through the air.

"Scatter!" Winston shouted as the group dodged the attacking beast and wisely kept their distance.

The werewolf landed on its four large paws and snarled angrily at the four men. It looked the group over before focusing in on Egon.

Egon took a step backward only to trip over an overturned trash can and fall down flat on his back. He tried to push himself back from the stalking beast with his hands and feet but the large creature crawled over to him at a frighteningly quick speed.

"Spengler!" Peter shouted as he aimed this thrower at the werewolf. "Shield your eyes!"

Egon laid back as flat as possible and lifted his arm up over his eyes to protect himself from the incoming bright light of the proton stream. As he did the wolf bit down onto his arm and broke through both the jumpsuit and his skin with a single bite.

"Gah!" Egon screamed and tried to wrest his arm free of the beast's strong jaws.

Peter opened fire on the creature and was soon joined by Ray and Winston. The trio bombarded the werewolf with the three proton streams which failed to secure it in place but succeeded in causing the beast enough pain to let go of Egon's arm and dash off from the alleyway and into the night.

Egon cradled his bleeding limb against his chest and sit upright on the dirty, littered ground of the alleyway.

"Egon!" Ray rushed over to Egon and slid on his knees to his injured friend's side. "Let me see your arm!"

"You take care of Egon!" Winston shouted as he and Peter took off in pursuit of the werewolf. "We'll take care of this guy!"

Egon slowly extended his arm out toward Ray as he winced in pain. "How bad does it look?"

Ray carefully held Egon's arm with one hand and pulled back the torn fabric of the jumpsuit sleeve with the other. Blood had already saturated the gray fabric and was dripping from the wound in a deep red hue. Exposing the wound Ray examined the deep bite marks that bled freely and already bruised the surrounding intact flesh.

"We need to get you to a doctor." Ray admitted as he gave a visual assessment of the bite. "This is a very deep bite, you'll need stitches as well as several rabies shots."

"We can wait for-"

"Nope." Ray put his arm around Egon's shoulders and helped pull him up to his feet. "They know where to meet us. You're hurt, you're bleeding and you were attacked by an actual werewolf! We need to get you examined."

* * *

 

Winston and Peter continued to pursue the werewolf on foot through the vacated city blocks. The large beast was quick but not as quick as they had initially feared. In fact it seemed to be slowing down due to exhaustion.

"We got it!" Peter shouted as he and Winston closed in on it. "On three we open fire and stun it!"

"Right!" Winston unsheathed his thrower and aimed it at the swishing tail of the werewolf as it darted down the street and jumped off of a bridge overlooking a small creek. "Never mind."

Peter looked over the edge of the bridge and saw the shallow creek running just a few yards below. "I bet he's hiding under the bridge."

"Do we really want to go down there?"

"No." Peter climbed up on the edge of the bridge and slipped over the other side. As he held onto the edge with his hands he gave Winston a smug look. "But if we don't deal with this wolf thing now it'll just be more paperwork in the long run."

* * *

Ray escorted Egon into the emergency room of the hospital and set about explaining the situation to the head nurse. Egon sat on a chair in the waiting room and kept his bleeding arm pressed protectively against his chest and concealed under his good hand. He leaned forward in the chair feeling uneasy and uncomfortable. Sweat was beading on his forehead and a headache set in.

"Okay Egon." Ray returned to his friend and put his hand on the physicist's shoulder. "The doctor can see you now."

"Yeah, okay." Egon stood up slowly only to stumble on his feet and nearly fall.

"Whoa! You alright?" Ray asked as he put his hand on Egon's chest to keep him from stumbling around too much.

"Y-Yeah. Just moved too fast."

"Uh, not from where I was standing!"

"Just... Just a little dizzy."

"Yeah, blood loss can do that." Ray teased as he helped Egon to walk down the corridor to the exam room. A nurse escorted the duo through the quiet halls to have Egon's arm examined. "I can't imagine a series of rabies shots is going to make you feel any better."

* * *

"Find him yet?" Peter asked as he and Winston explored the dark tunnel under the bridge.

"Not yet." Winston was checking every narrow junction and shadow under the bridge. "Maybe we should- Wait a sec!"

"Whatcha' find?"

Winston knelt down and used the end of his thrower to pick up a clump of matted fur. "This."

"Roadkill. Good work."

"No, this is from our wolf friend."

"How can you tell?"

"You see the color? And the-"

A rustling from the shrubbery outside the tunnel that lined the creek caught their ear.

"Let's check it out!"

* * *

Egon was sitting on the exam table with both of his arms pulled free of his jumpsuit sleeves, the sleeves were now tied around his waist as the jumpsuit had been unzipped just as far. The doctor had just finished cleaning out the deep bite marks on Egon's arm and had given him a dose of penicillin. Ray stayed with Egon throughout the whole ordeal and studied his pained friend's body language carefully.

The doctor, Dr. Kendra Nichols, cleaned Egon's unaffected arm with an alcohol swab and injected the anti-rabies vaccine with a precise hand. After placing a bandage over the injection sight Dr. Nichols then prepared a fresh needle and silk thread to begin the first of many stitches.

"You said a dog jumped you in the alley?" The doctor herself was a lovely young woman. She had her long dark hair pulled back into a tight bun and she wore thick dark frames on her face. Despite your youth she was well trained and experienced. "This looks like the work of something much bigger than a dog."

Ray cleared his throat and responded to her question with a plausible explanation. "It was a big dog, it looked like a mastiff or something."

Dr. Nichols, who didn't fully believe Ray chose not to press the matter for the sake of Egon's own comfort. "I hope your colleagues can find it. Did you contact animal control?"

"Uh..." Ray fumbled to reply to the poignant question. "We honestly didn't think of it."

She flashed Ray a sly smile as she prepared the mild anesthetic for Egon's arm before she began stitching the now cleaned wounds. "I imagine it would be a little disorienting in a dark alley."

"Yeah, it was." Ray felt himself blush but didn't shy away.

Egon let out a deep pained sigh as he pressed his hand to his forehead.

"Dr. Spengler?" Dr. Nichols noticed Egon's sudden discomfort and stared at his paled complexion. "Are you feeling alright?"

"...headache." He murmured his response and shut his eyes.

Slipping off one of her gloves Dr. Nichols pressed her hand against his forehead, pushing his own hand aside in the process. "You feel feverish. I'm going to take your temperature to make certain."

Ray watched as Dr. Nichols made a note in Egon's chart and called for a nurse to assist her. "Egon, are you sure it's just a headache?"

Egon nodded weakly as he replaced his hand over his forehead. "Yeah... It hit me as soon as we got to the hospital."

Dr. Nichols guided Egon back from his sitting position so he could lay back on the table. As the nurse walked into the room Dr. Nichols retrieved the temperature probe from its compartment in the medical storage cabinet and pressed it against Egon's temple. "It'll just take a few seconds."

Egon didn't react or respond to the cold plastic of the temperature probe pressing against his warm skin. Instead it seemed as though he had fallen asleep or maybe even fell unconscious on the table.

Ray was starting to get concerned for Egon's health. "Should we be worried doc?"

"I don't think so." Dr. Nichols soothed sincerely. "If anything he's just having an adverse reaction to the vaccines. It's not uncommon for the human body to have an initial negative reaction to any medication."

"As long as he doesn't go into anaphylactic shock." Ray lamented as he walked over to the exam table.

"You're familiar with medication?" Dr. Nichols asked curiously.

"We were both pre-med but he had more training than I did." Ray admitted feeling a little useless.

"I see." Dr. Nichols retracted the probe from Egon's temple and looked at the display. "100.3, low grade fever."

"Is he going to have stay overnight?"

"Only as precaution." Dr. Nichols confirmed.

"I'll let the guys know. I wonder if they're even here yet?"

* * *

Winston and Peter followed the rustling sound in the shrubbery until they found the massive form of the werewolf lurking in the darkened flora. The beast appeared to be injured as it was laying on its side and barely moving. Slow, heavy breaths were the only movement exhibited by the massive creature as it laid prone and collapsed by the creek.

"Now what?" Peter asked Winston in a low voice. "Do we throw a 'silver trap' at it?"

"If it's stunned we might be able to use the throwers to hold it in place." Winston observed keenly.

"Then what? Call the pound?"

"I don't know. But we can't just leave it out here."

"If it isn't hurt actually, like it's playing possum, we could be in big trouble."

"You're right." Winston sheathed his thrower and slowly approached the beast.

"What're you doing?!" Peter barely kept himself from shouting. "I'd expect this kind of reckless behavior from Ray, but never you!"

Winston crouched down and examined the beat up close and without even the slightest twinge of fear in his movements. As he placed his hand on the creature's side Petr held his breath and prepared to open fire.

"Well?" Peter asked anxiously. "What do we do?"

"Peter, come over here." Winston waved his colleague over. "You're not going to believe this."

* * *

Egon's head was pounding. He could feel the horrific pain still lingering in his arm despite the medication and he felt uncomfortably hot. He opened his eyes and found himself laying on a bed in a private room of the hospital in a white hospital gown. Ray was asleep in the chair beside his bed and the room was dark for the night.

Sitting up Egon looked at his bandaged arm and pressed his hand over the damaged limb. The pain shot through his arm and he felt his stomach begin to turn with nausea.

"Ray?" Egon called for his friend. "Ray! S-Something's wrong!"

Ray never woke from his slumber.

Unable to take the pain or nausea any longer Egon forced himself to climb out of the bed only to fall to the floor in a heap of weakness. He struggled to push himself up from the floor as his entire body began to shake with pain and fear.

Egon stared at his hand and watched sickeningly as his vision blurred, cleared and blurred in repetition. Sitting back on his knees Egon forced his vision to focus on his hand only to see his fingernails were suddenly longer and sharper. "What in the-!" Egon turned his hand over and stared at his palm as his fingers suddenly lengthened and the fingernails morphed into thick claws.

"I'm- I'm-" Egon couldn't find the words he so desperately sought as his entire body was wracked with pain.

Falling forward Egon watched as his hands grew in size and patches of hair began to grow rapidly from every follicle on his fingers, hands and up his arm. A horrific sound of bones breaking filled the room as he could feel his arms and legs lengthening, his back arching against his will and an agonizing pain emanating at his lower spine as a long tail began to grow from his tailbone.

The weak fabric of the hospital gown was shredded in the process and fell to the floor in a pile of torn white material.

Helplessly Egon watched his body change from that of a normal human to that of a canine like beast. Despite his strong will and even stronger mind he couldn't simply stop the transformation by though alone.

Egon's ears shifted from their natural round shape and formed into triangles as his ears seemed slide upward toward the top of his head. Egon's headache intensified as his nose twisted and contorted from that of a normal human nose and into a canine-like snout, complete with enlarged sharp teeth inside his enlarged mouth.

As the transformation came to an end Egon forced himself to stand upright and he pressed his clawed hands to his face in pain. Catching a glimpse of his reflection on the glass of the window he cried out in guttural anger and confusion that resulted in a menacing howl.

Ray had been startled awake by the sound and immediately jumped out his chair as he stared at the werewolf now standing inside the hospital room.

"Where did YOU come from?!" Ray screamed as he backed away and pressed his body up against the far wall.

Egon turned toward Ray and stared at him through his glowing inhuman eyes. Eyes that shone like a ravenous beast than that of a scared person.

"Egon? Egon!" Ray looked around frantically for his injured friend but couldn't see him. Panic set in and Ray began shouting hoping to draw attention from other people. "Egon! Where are you?!"

Unable to speak but still able to recognize Ray as a friend Egon tried to communicate with the frightened Ghostbuster.

"Don't come any closer!" Ray begged as he outstretched his arms as if he could keep the beast at bay. "I...I...I... don't want to hurt you!"

It was then Egon thought of a way to identify himself and perhaps calm Ray in the process. Egon extended his arm, the very arm that had been heavily wrapped under white bandages.

Ray looked at the limb, saw the bandages and realized that the injury was the exact same one that had brought Egon to the hospital to begin with. "Wait, your arm- but that means..." Ray's eyes widened in alarm. "Egon?! Is that really you?!"

Egon still couldn't speak but he could understand perfectly well. He nodded and pointed at his arm again.

"Then that means... Oh boy! We really did see a werewolf!"

There was a commotion outside the door as a group of people began marching toward the room. Egon turned toward the door and then back to Ray as if he could convey his worries to his friend without uttering a word.

"We can't let anyone see you!" Ray realized and sprinted to the door. He made sure the door was locked and made sure the curtain over the window was completely drawn. "Egon, what do we do?"

Egon didn't have an answer, not that he could even provide one with his inhuman voice anyway.

"We need to get you back to the firehouse, we need to scan you with the PKE meter, run some blood tests, check your EEG-"

The group outside the door grew louder as someone began turning the locked knob of the door and knocking firmly. "Hello? Dr. Stantz? Dr. Spengler?" It was Dr. Nichols checking in on her patient. "Is everything okay in there? Unlock the door."

Trying to think on his feet Ray responded in a shaking voice. "It's fine! All fine... Just... Just a bad dream!"

"Please unlock the door." Dr. Nichols requested patiently. "I need to come inside the room."

Egon backed away from the door on his strong hind legs and pressed up against the window leading to the outside world. Egon turned and looked at his wolf face staring back from the reflection, the light of the full moon illuminating his facade. Turning away and bowing his head Egon covered his face despondently with his massive paw/hands and let out a pitiful canine whimper.

"What was that?!" Dr. Nichols heard the unusual sound and was becoming increasingly worried. "Please! Let me in!"

"Ray? Egon!" Winston's voice shouted through the door along with Dr. Nichols. "Guys! What's going in there? Is Egon okay?"

Ray looked back at Egon who was all but cowering against the window. "He's... He's uh... Look, it's fine! Just take my word for it!"

The door began shaking on its hinges as the hospital security began trying to force the door open.

Peter spoke up. "Ray, we know something's going on. Don't lie to us!"

"Peter! It's a little complicated." Ray confessed as Egon stood in place unable to move or speak for himself. "Please, just-"

The door was forced open by a strong kick by the hospital security staff and allowed both Winston and Peter to storm inside. Ray stood back from the door and watched as Winston and Peter raised their throwers at Egon.

"No! Don't!" Ray pleaded.

"Get back Ray!" Peter yelled as he and Winston opened fire at the werewolf, unaware that it was in fact their friend Egon.

"NO." Ray watched helplessly as the two proton streams raced toward Egon.

Egon lowered his hands away from his face just long enough to catch a glimpse of the brightly lit proton streams darting toward him like a bullet.

In a heavy sweat Egon bolted upright in his hospital bed as the dreadful memory was still fresh in his mind. His whole body was trembling with fear and confusion as he stared blankly at the blurry wall opposite the end of his bed.

"Egon!" Ray put his hand on Egon's shaking shoulder. "You're awake."

A second pair of gentle hands rested on Egon's shoulders. Dr. Nichols smiled warmly at him and pressed her hand to his forehead. Taking the stethoscope from around her neck she placed the cold metal bell of the device against Egon's chest and listened to his heart.

"I'm..." Egon paused momentarily as he wasn't expecting the sound of his own voice. He looked down at his hands and saw that they were again human and normal. "Ray... What happened?"

"You spiked a fever and were out of it for a few hours." Ray explained calmly. "Dr. Nichols had you admitted for observation and your fever finally broke about an hour ago."

"Fever?" Egon looked down at his arm and saw the clean white bandages wrapped over his damaged limb.

"You gave us quite a scare Dr. Spengler." Dr. Nichols informed him softly. "As I've stated before patients having a negative initial reaction to vaccinations aren't uncommon but very few suffer from high grade fever and lose consciousness."

"High grade..." Egon was piecing together his memory. "I thought when I began to feel ill-"

"You passed out soon after and your temperature spiked." Dr. Nichols explained. "We managed to bring your temperature back down through ice packs and an extra dose of penicillin. The lacerations to your arm were deep and the teeth of the dog that bit you were covered in bacteria."

Peter, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, held out a cup of water for Egon. "Drink this, you're looking a little parched."

"Peter?" Egon had no memory of Peter arriving at the hospital. Gratefully he took the water and drank it greedily.

Winston handed Egon his folded glasses. "Yeah, we're here for you pal."

"And Winston." Egon took his glasses, unfolded the frames and put them in place on the bridge of his nose. "When did you two arrive? What happened to the..."

"Werewolf?" Peter smiled fiendishly. "Yeah, we've been waiting for you to wake up so you could see the look on Ray's face when we told him that the werewolf was NOT an actual werewolf."

Ray did look a little disappointed but not surprised. "What was it then?"

"I'll let Winston tell ya', it's a good story and I'm always down for a good story." Peter sat on the edge of Egon's bed and gave Winston his full attention. "And... begin!"

Winston just shook his head as he began his explanation. "That werewolf we saw was not a werewolf, and it wasn't a ghost and it wasn't a dog."

"Then?" Ray's curiosity had been piqued. "What was it?"

"A frat house prank!"

"A... prank?" Egon sounded tired and a little irritated.

"Yeah, it turns out every Halloween the frat houses all throughout the city have a type of prank war and our winners had built a very convincing and complicated costume by modifying a taxidermy wolf over some football gear and having their star quarterback running through the various campuses snarling and barking with the aid of a built in megaphone."

Egon looked down at his arm. "If it was a prank why didn't the student in the costume reveal himself?"

"Drunk." Winston through up his hands in defeat. "The infamous campus werewolf got drunk, ran away from his handlers and was too drunk to speak. He apparently 'bit' you because he was 'in character'."

"Where is he now?" Ray inquired with a bitter tone.

Dr. Nichols answered with a smug grin. "He's two floors up and strapped down to a bed. He's suffering from alcohol poisoning but he'll pull through. In the morning we're going to withhold any pain medication so his hangover is at full tilt." Satisfied Egon was stable she took her leave. "I'll check on you later Dr. Spengler."

"Good." Was all Egon could say.

"Don't feel bad Spengz." Peter shot his friend a surprisingly optimistic look. "If we hadn't chased after him that kid would've died from alcohol poisoning and heat exhaustion. So by falling for his little 'joke' we ended up saving a life!"

Egon nodded. "You're correct. I just wish I hadn't been injured in the process."

"We all do." Winston was sympathetic toward his friend.

"Hey Spengz," Peter had an interesting question. "when you woke up you looked like you had come face to face with the Devil himself. What were you dreaming about?"

"It was... It was more of a nightmare." Egon admitted, his face blushing in the process. "I will tell you what I had dreamt, but please do not mock me afterward."

_**-The End** _


End file.
